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Project SIGMA
, particularly regarding her methodology and attitude, I will take it upon myself to direct this splinter project so they may act as the Office of Naval Intelligence's top field operatives, while keeping the same asset that benefit the other candidates for the much-needed program.|Calvin Roe, ONI Civilian Consultant 394382, speaking in 2517.}} Origins Project SIGMA was a 'splinter' group of the little-known and highly controversial , established in 2517 after being approved for activation by HIGHCOM. The project would entail the kidnapping of young children from across the colonies and subjecting them to an intense regimen of training and conditioning to become humanity's finest soldiers. While SPARTAN-II was originally the brainchild of the brilliant but unorthodox Doctor Catherine Halsey, SIGMA was intended as an offshoot, to be conducted without her knowledge. This was done for a multitude of reasons, ranging from mistrust of Halsey to the fact that certain high ranking intelligence officers wished to have these soldiers personally assigned to them for secret missions. The man who came forward with this plan was Doctor Calvin Roe, an esteemed civilian consultant for ONI who became famous for his work, much of which was later incorporated into the iconic MJOLNIR armour suits that served the SPARTAN-II soldiers for decades. For SIGMA, only twenty candidates would be selected for training, a much smaller size than the 75 chosen by Halsey. Though this would still leave over fifty potential SPARTAN trainees out there, Roe reasoned that with a smaller group, more improvements could be made to each member, making them extremely efficient in and out of combat. As with Halsey's group, funding was also an issue, contributing to the much smaller scale of the SIGMA project. It was decided that the trainees could not be sent to Reach, as their chance of discovery by Halsey would be too great. Instead, the twenty recruits were secretly transported to Earth, the captial of the UEG and UNSC, for their training. To act as the chief instructor for the SIGMA group, Richard Mack Senior, a semi-retired special forces hero and former ORION operative, was chosen after being personally recommended by both Calvin Roe and Admiral , who had worked with him previously. First-Generation SIGMA In late 2517, all twenty of the specially selected candidates for SIGMA were abducted by ONI agents, being replaced by flash clones, who would quickly fall ill and die. They were then transported to a top-secret training facility in the on Earth, where they would meet their trainers for the first time. Calvin Roe would work as the chief overseer of SIGMA, with Mack Senior as both the chief trainer and evaluator of these trainees. Due to the highly controversial nature of the project, which broke major laws, all people affiliated with the project were sworn to secrecy and largely confined to the facility, though Mack was allowed to leave periodically, living nearby. That aside, most members of staff were to live there for almost a decade, according to the projected training time for the average SPARTAN-II candidate by ONI. In terms of training, a secure line of information was set up from Reach to Earth, allowing SIGMA to make use of Halsey's notes and schedules for her group, in addition to their own initiatives. This was done successfully by ONI, under the pretence of having to keep track of the SPARTAN-II's training. Roe quickly noticed that Halsey was becoming oddly attached to her trainees, and, seeing this as highly unprofessional considering what they were doing to these children, made an effort to distance himself somewhat from the ones in SIGMA, allowing Mack, as a longtime soldier, to act as more of a father figure to the Spartans. After some initial difficulties, every single one of the SIGMA trainees began to show their true potential, a hierarchy quickly being established in terms of sheer ability, the specialities that each SPARTAN possessed in a certain field coming into light within a year. In early 2520, Roe made the decision to implement a 'leaderboard' for the trainees. This would rank each SPARTAN based on their combat performance during training sessions, designed to provoke some deal of competition and give them something to strive for. Though generally successful, several of the trainees became obsessed with attaining a high position in the leaderboard, several injuries occurring due to this. Chief among these was Jack-085, who was reprimanded on several occasions for excessive force against his comrades. The consistently top-performing member of the SIGMA project was, however, Fenn-145, who remained there for the entire duration of their training. It was in the early 2520s that the decision was made to split SIGMA into several groups upon the completion of their then-experimental . This was approved by HIGHCOM, though Mack disagreed with it, believing that it would be better for each and every SPARTAN to remain together in the years to come. In addition, the largest group, Sigma-Alpha, would be told that their comrades perished during augmentations, allowing for a complete cover up on the other nine's files. Alpha, the largest group, consisting of eleven members, would be deployed on counter-rebel operations across the colonies, acting in areas where the other SPARTAN-II's could not. Beta, consisting of three members, would function as an intelligence-gathering team permanently assigned to a UNSC prowler for discreet missions. Gamma, which was made up of five members, would fill a role similar to Alpha's, but on smaller missions that required a greater deal of discretion, such as capturing high-value individuals or recovering specific objects. Sigma-Delta would consist of a single member, who would be given to HIGHCOM for their own specific uses, officially ceasing to exist in any way after his augmentations. In 2525, however, SIGMA was to undergo rapid changes, the project goals being greatly expanded in scope. , a conglomeration of alien races, had attacked the colony world of , killing tens of thousands there. Later that year, Biko and several other Outer Colony worlds were assaulted and 'glassed' by these aggressors. With this new, massive threat to humanity as a whole, HIGHCOM ordered their training to be accelerated to the final stage: a series of physical, biological and chemical augmentations which would greatly enhance the subjects into true SPARTAN soldiers. As Halsey's group had underwent their own augmentations two months before, with over half 'washing out' of the program at this stage, ONI was able to greatly upgrade the procedures and correct prior mistakes. reducing the 56% casualty rate to a relatively low 14% in such a short period of time. In late May, the SIGMA Spartans went for their own augmentations aboard the , and by what was considered a miracle by some, all survived without any deaths or debilitating injuries. Though their number of twenty was still lower than the thirty-three survivors of Halsey's SPARTAN-II's, SIGMA was considered to be an unprecedented success. Immediately following their augmentation procedures, nine SIGMA members, who would make up Sigma-Beta, Gamma, and Delta, were taken away from the facility, being assigned to separate bases on Luna, Mars, and the respectively. The other eleven members would, as it had been decided by HIGHCOM, be sent out on missions against the Covenant, leaving counter-insurgency operations to Sigma-Gamma. The group spent several weeks recovering from their augmentations on the UNSC Hopeful before being transported back to Earth. It was not long after this happened that a breakout occurred in the SIGMA facility, leaving dozens dead. Jack-085, one of the best-performing trainees in the program, along with Ahmad-126, killed several guards and attempted to escape. This came as a great shock to Roe, who had believed that the intense mental conditioning that the SPARTAN's received would make them unshakeably loyal to their superiors and the UNSC in general. The pair slaughtered their way towards the hangar bay, trapping SPARTAN-133 and SPARTAN-041 as they attempted to halt the pair, and encountering SPARTAN-025, Marco, who allowed them to pass, but refused to join them, much to Jack's dismay. With fears of Jack and Ahmad possibly recruiting more Spartans to their cause, Roe sealed off the facility barracks, where five of the others were at the time. Though this momentarily halted their progress, the escapees kept going, and were confronted by Richard Mack Senior. Though the veteran soldier was able to almost convince the pair to give up, a fight broke out, Mack holding his own for some time before being captured as four of the other Spartans arrived, forcing Jack to release him to escape. The pair left the facility via pelican, initiating a week-long manhunt. Ahmad was found dead on the outskirts of a nearby city, having apparently committed suicideLater tests proved that he had in fact received a fatal gunshot to the head from Jack, a fight having evidently broken out between the pair. Jack disappeared, and in spite of all commercial flights from the city being thoroughly searched for the next few weeks, he was never found. Though ONI dispatched agents to search for the rogue SPARTAN, he proved near-impossible to locate. With this unfortunate mishap befalling SIGMA, Mack Senior departed the facility after a speech to his trainees, having been called back to serve as a military commander against the Covenant, along with many retired veterans, such as . Over the next couple of months, Sigma-Alpha received their experimental armour, training to efficiently use the suits for some time before finally being dispatched on a 'trial run' against an insurrectionist siege the next year. The other SIGMA teams were put through essentially the same process, though immediately after his reassignment, the records of Sigma-Delta's only member, Derek-142 ceased to exist, even to Roe. The first mission undergone by the SPARTAN-II's was classed as a great success, with no casualties and all mission objectives being successfully completed by the nine members of Sigma-Alpha. Shortly after this, word came down to SIGMA that their operators were finally ready for deployment against the Covenant. With the SPARTAN-II's officially under the command of ONI and the , Roe was assigned to MJOLNIR armour development, working to improve from the original models produced, making them more efficient for combat use. SIGMA operated efficiently over the years, Alpha being deployed against the Covenant on Brennus in 2530 after several years of counter-insurrection operations. Over the years, they were often used for field testing of MJOLNIR variants, such as , and , making the most of them in combat and determining if they were to be mass-produced. In their many years of war, the SIGMA Spartans did not encounter the Reach-trained ones at all, nor was their presence ever detected by Catherine Halsey, largely due to a dedicated group of ONI agents covering their tracks and ensuring that SPARTAN-II deployment was coordinated to prevent any accidental meetings, which would uncover SIGMA's secrecy. Over the years, very few could deny the extreme efficiency of both SPARTAN-II and it's subsidiaries, including SIGMA and others. Many victories were won and disasters averted due to the actions of these soldiers in the field, this level of success, unparalleled by any special forces unit before in history, justified the near-astronomical costs for constant armour requisitions, namely upgrades or occasionally, new suits. SIGMA did, towards the latter half of the war, begin to sustain casualties. During the Battle of Schönheit in 2545, SPARTAN-127 and SPARTAN-136 were declared MIA, in accordance with ONI's , which declared that no SPARTAN-II asset could be declared as Killed in Action, for reasons of keeping up morale. In 2548 came the biggest loss of SPARTAN-II assets in the war, with every member of Sigma-Gamma disappearing during the Battle of New Oslo, upon the activation of an unknown alien artefact. Again, there were no confirmed deaths and a great deal of ambiguity as to where they had ended up, something that led to the incident becoming highly classified, but it still denied the UNSC five crucial assets in the future. The final two years of the war, in which the fighting intensified to an precedented level, saw over 70% of the SPARTAN-II's killed. Operation: SWEEPOUT saw two more confirmed casualties, and a possible resurfacing of the rogue SPARTAN-085, but it was 2552, the bloodiest and conclusive year of the Human-Covenant War, that was the most devestating. Two members of Sigma-Alpha, along with Richard Mack Senior, were killed during the Battle of Harpa in March, with the others barely escaping. SPARTAN-063 was killed in July, his body being the only one recovered by his team mates. It was during the , the biggest battle of the war, however, that saw the most extensive SPARTAN deployments, and deaths. Only one member of Sigma-Alpha was killed, though there were excessive casualties among other SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III assets defending the planet. In addition, the founder of the SIGMA Project, Calvin Roe, was among the millions killed while defending the planet, being confirmed dead shortly after the While Sigma-Alpha reported his death, eyewitness accounts and partially-deleted helmet recorders heavily suggest that SPARTAN-025 killed Roe, though there was no conclusive evidence.. SPARTAN-II SIGMA operators This list is accurate as of December 3rd, 2559, upon the first official end of Project SIGMA's lifespan due to it being superseded by the joint SPARTAN Unit.This list does not regard . , upon destroying an entire Covenant Legion as they tried to take control of an unknown alien artefact. The SPARTAN Team continued to make transmissions for several hours following the destruction of the site, despite not being found, leading to the MIA status. *Marco-025 - Active *Luisa-026 - MIA with Sigma-Gamma *Wulf-041 - Confirmed KIA during the *Stanley-048 - MIA with Sigma-Gamma *Resk-063 - Confirmed KIA during the Battle of Dorvyesk III in July 2552 *Elena-071 - Active *Irene-074 - MIA with Sigma-Gamma *Jacob-076 - Confirmed KIA during OPERATION: SWEEPOUT in 2550 *Jack-085 - Unknown, never found after escaping the SIGMA facility in 2526Though not conclusive, there is some evidence to suggest his involvement with the Insurrection, possibly commanding their forces at Endrin until OPERATION: SWEEPOUT in 2550. *Kane-099 - Active *Trevor-120 - MIA with Sigma-Gamma *Ahmad-126 - Found dead following his escape from the SIGMA facility in 2526. *Pierre-127 - Confirmed KIA as part of Operation: ASHES in 2555. *Amy-133 - Confirmed KIA during OPERATION: SWEEPOUT in 2550 *Hank-136 - ActiveAssigned to Project THOR along with other SPARTAN assets deemed 'unstable' following psychiatric evaluation in 2556 *Derek-142 - Unknown, all records cease following 2526.It is largely unknown as to why the records of this particular S-II are either deleted or untraceable, though dedicated searches come up with the following code: CDRΣS142UNK/MIA. His true whereabouts are largely unknown outside the highest echelons of the UNSC. *Fenn-145 - Confirmed KIA during the Battle of Harpa in March 2552. Awarded the posthumously. }} Second-Generation SIGMA }} In early 2537, long after the original SIGMA Spartans had been sent off to war, the plan was made for the recruitment of groups of SPARTAN-III soldiers to serve as a new generation of soldiers under the direct command of ONI, rather than serving on suicide missions like their brethren. While some members of the 300-strong Alpha Company were pulled for this very purpose, at the behest of Lieutenant , their trainer, to operate elsewhere, the decision was made that more would be needed to carry out operations that even their SPARTAN peers would be unaware of. , which took place in late 2537, proved to be the most dangerous mission undertaken by Alpha Company, and culminated in the deaths of all but twelve participants, who were able, albeit barely, to escape , the mission location, and return safely to a nearby Prowler. One aboard, they were met by Margaret Parangosky, Calvin Roe, and Colonel , the progenitor of SPARTAN-III. There, the decision was made to keep their survival a secret, and incorporate these survivors into two teams, aptly named UPSILON and TAU, making up a second generation of SIGMA Spartans under Roe's instruction. Due to the relatively small size of the SPARTAN-III group, and the augmentation procedures they had undergone, known as , it was decided that both teams would be eligible for MJOLNIR armour usage. Despite the astronomical cost of a dozen suits, this was justified as it would greatly improve their performance on the battlefield, where they were sorely needed. This was approved, the twelve members of Upsilon and Tau gradually being trained to use their MJOLNIR suits. Unlike the members of , who possessed similar 'superior' genes to the SPARTAN-II candidates, these Spartans were originally made to wear cut-down MJOLNIR suits in combat, their augmented bodies gradually adjusting as time went on. Like the original SIGMA units, Upsilon and Tau were sent on smaller strike operations against the Covenant, fielded as shock troops on the frontlines in various campaigns over the years, proving to be quite effective as groups. The two teams were often used in conjunction with one another, Upsilon specialising in heavy firepower and demolition operations, while Tau became proficient in missions that required subtlety and stealth. As the SPARTAN-II's were constantly being deployed in the field under the command of the UNSC Navy for the most part, they remained unaware of the SPARTAN-III's existence for some time. These Spartans operated efficiently for many years, eventually coming into contact with Sigma-Alpha Team during the Siege of Fargad. The mass SPARTAN presence during the battle was a major boon for the UNSC defenders, who in spite of retreating had inflicted massive casualties on the enemy fleet and slowed down the Covenant advance into the Inner Colonies. However, with the in 2552, nine out of the twelve SPARTAN-III Sigmas were killed, making Reach the biggest loss of SPARTAN life since TORPEDO and PROMETHEUS. The three survivors were folded into the remnants of Sigma-Alpha for the remainder of the Human-Covenant War. SPARTAN-III SIGMA operators This list is accurate as of December 3rd, 2559, upon the first official end of Project SIGMA's lifespan due to it being superseded by the joint SPARTAN Unit. Post-War analysis of the incident suggests that this was a friendly fire event perpetrated by Codename: PYRRHUS, who was killed not long after. *Martin-A136 - Active *Sal-A142 - Confirmed KIA during the *Eugene-A133 - Confirmed KIA during the *Chris-A189 - Confirmed KIA during the *Dorian-A188 - Confirmed KIA during the Battle for Outpost Foxtrot-Whiskey *Nelson-A122 - Declared MIA, presumed KIA during the *Alex-A121 - Active *Dom-A178 - Confirmed KIA during Operation: DROPKICK *Louie-A199 - Active *Jordan-A111 - Confirmed KIA during the *Frank-A103 - Confirmed KIA during Operation: DROPKICK }} Project Shutdown References Category:Sigmaverse Category:Sigmaverse HCW